Black Friday 2015: A rookie’s guide to the biggest sales

The Friday after the American Thanksgiving holiday is known as Black Friday, a massive sale day that marks the start of Christmas shopping. Thankfully for us, we can now enjoy these insane Black Friday deals even if we live outside the States.

This year, Black Friday will take place on November 27 (November 28 in Singapore). Sales usually start at midnight on Friday, around lunchtime locally. If you miss it, don’t worry, because you can also get good deals on Cyber Monday (the following Monday) as well.

If you’re planning to catch a few deals yourself, there are a few tips you should know. Don’t think you can go into the biggest sale say of the year without any preparation. Serious Black Friday shoppers save up for months and curate detailed wishlists to stay organised. To maximise your savings, it doesn’t hurt to sign up as members or for mailing lists of the sites you wish to patronise.

Some sites like Sephora don’t offer shipping to Singapore, however, there is a way around it. Third-party shipping sites such as ComGateway or Borderlinx offer concierge services that help you purchase items with your local details and ship it to you. These sites also provide you with a US shipping address which you can use to consolidate all your orders if you plan on shopping on multiple sites.

Do note than packages that are SGD400 and above are subjected to 7% GST. ComGateway allows you to keep your packages at their facility for about two months, so you can slowly ship in your packages and separate your orders if necessary.

Lastly, be wary of websites that offer special Black Friday promotional codes. They may be phishing scams trying to score your sensitive personal details. To be safe, only use codes from the sites themselves.

Read on to find out our favourite places that traditionally offer Black Friday deals. Good luck comrade, and happy shopping!

Best places to get Black Friday deals online

Net-a-Porter – Love your luxury buys? Then head to Net-a-Porter and make a list now. You can also get high-end beauty brands such as Charlotte Tilbury from the site.

Topshop – The high-street’s favourite fashion store needs no introduction. Topshop has slashed their prices up to 50% off in the past, so make good use of the sales to get all your wardrobe essentials

Sephora – The beauty junkie’s mecca has been secretive about their Black Friday deals, but you can be sure they are good. To get the most bang out of your buck, grab their exclusive value and Christmas sets.

Forever 21 – Forever 21 is already affordable, so just imagine what Black Friday prices will be. The site already has a 50% off pre-Black Friday sale, and it doesn’t hurt to start early.

ASOS – Like Forever 21, the well-loved fashion site is also holding pre-Black Friday sales. Calling it the Black Friday warm up, ASOS offers up to 60% off cold weather items.

Charles & Keith – Shoe-fanatics can look forward to great deals on shoes from Charles & Keith. Last year, Singapore’s favourite shoemaker had both Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, so fingers-crossed that they’ll be repeating it again!

Amanda Lim

Photo: Getty Images